Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever. Who can proclaim
the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?
(Psalm 106:1-2)

Greetings from Amsterdam! It’s a season for thanksgiving. No, not Thanksgiving with a capital “T” (the American holiday with the Pilgrims and Indians and turkey dinners and such)—thanksgiving: simply giving thanks, celebrating the goodness of God, and remembering His mighty acts in our lives. Especially here in Amsterdam (where, incidentally, they do not celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday)—and especially at this stage in our church’s development—we have much reason for thanksgiving.

Just a short month ago, our church was homeless. We were struggling to get ourselves untangled from our old home on the Leidsekade, while simultaneously fighting through the red tape of government approvals and contract negotiations to get into a new place. But now, within the next week or two, we will once again have a roof over our heads—and not just any roof, but the roof of a really unique, truly beautiful, providentially prepared facility on the Herengracht (a beautiful canal neighborhood in the heart of old Amsterdam). Somehow, despite the odds, we managed to find a place that is bigger, more centrally located, more accessible, and significantly less expensive than our former ministry facilities! Truly, we’ve seen God work to meet our needs in very tangible ways over the last several weeks—even during the transition period—and we feel ourselves overflowing with thanks and gratitude for such assurances of God’s care for our community. There are still several elements of the transition that need to be solidified (including exact timelines for renovation and relocation), but we’re encouraged that things are headed in a positive direction. If you want to get more of the details from this transition period, I’d encourage you to check out my weblog: www.amsterdamasp.blogspot.com, where I’ve posted several photos and descriptions of the new facility—and, to be sure, I plan to keep posting more information as it becomes available…

In the meantime, we’ve got plenty to keep us busy! November will be a very active month for our family and for our ministry. In addition to moving the church (which will probably happen somewhere in the middle part of the month), we scheduled in a special seminar (called Ancient Paths) for the first weekend of the month, with a series of follow-up opportunities in the following week—all designed to facilitate recovery from deep emotional wounds and spiritual wholeness among the individuals within our church. We hosted the same seminar last spring, and the response was overwhelmingly positive—to the point that we felt we needed to offer the seminar again this fall, as well as create opportunities for some of the people in our community to be trained as facilitators for other seminars to hopefully be hosted in the future. Therefore, we’re excited to see how God will equip our ministry through the Ancient Paths program.

Also, in the second week of November, our church is planning to formally ordain Todd Watkins and me as pastors (as opposed to pastors-in-training) for our community in Amsterdam. I hope that I can explain more about this in our next prayer letter—but suffice to say, it’s an exciting development on both the personal level and the ministry level… Coincidentally (and, actually, somewhat consequently), my parents will be coming into Amsterdam also in the second week of November. We’re really thankful and really excited about their visit, as such opportunities for family connections do not come along too often (we may even try to pull off a good old-fashioned American Thanksgiving dinner while they’re in town!). In any event, with all of these things stacked on top of each other, it seems the second week of the month will be an eventful one for us.

Of course, it doesn’t end there. In the third week of November, I will be taking a trip to Austria for a conference with other GCM church leaders from across Europe. And finally to close out the month, Marci will be flying back to Ohio to help her Mom and Dad move out of her childhood home and into an old family farmhouse (which is in the process of being refurbished) where her grandparents will also live. So I’ll get some special time with the kids while Marci is busy packing, cleaning, and painting (and hopefully getting some nice downtime with her family too!).

I guess you could say that we’ve got our hands full for the coming month! But we’re excited that it’s good things and exciting things that are filling up the calendar. It’s obvious that God is at work. Therefore, we have much to remember during this season of thanksgiving. We hope that you will be similarly encouraged and prompted to thanksgiving by everything that’s happening here and in your own life as well. And not only do we want to thank God for all His goodness—we want to thank you for your role in making everything possible, through your prayer and financial support of our family and our ministry! Your faithful involvement in our ministry is an amazing blessing for which we are extremely grateful.

We’ll continue to keep in touch. Also, feel free to check the church website (www.amsterdam50.nl) and the “blog” (www.amsterdamasp.blogspot.com) for all the latest information. But for now, that’s it. Thanks again, for everything!

Eric